Ayrshire Scotland Business News is provided by the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle, an association of some of the top companies in Ayrshire. We publicise our members, and celebrate and report the wealth and rich diversity of entrepreneurial and business excellence that abounds here in Ayrshire, south-west Scotland. For further information e-mail Murdoch@eliteayrshire.com

The Elite Ayrshire Business Circle

Saturday, 24 October 2009

Irvine firm wins major regeneration contracts in Saltcoats and Ardrossan

WORK is due to start later this month on iconic projects in the regeneration of Ardrossan and Saltcoats, Irvine Bay Regeneration Company announced this week.

Local contractors McLaughlin Construction of Irvine will go on site from 26 October at the former Jack Miller Hotel and Saltcoats station building.

The work is being undertaken after funding of almost £1.5 million was secured from the Scottish Government’s Town Centre Regeneration Fund.

The Government fund is making £60m available to projects across Scotland this year. The former Jack Miller Hotel building in Ardrossan (pictured above) will provide office accommodation for businesses in the area. Irvine Bay hopes to provide financial support, as part of a larger private investment, to refurbish the Harbour Bar and bring it back into use as a restaurant and bar to support the developments at the marina. In Saltcoats, the former station building (pictured below) will be redeveloped to provide retail space or office space and also a restaurant.

Baroness Margaret Ford, Chair of Irvine Bay said: “Bringing these buildings back to life will make a tremendous difference to the look and feel of both Ardrossan and Saltcoats and I am delighted that we have a local contractor in place and are starting work.”

McLaughlin Construction director Shaun McLaughlin said: “We are delighted to have been awarded these prestigious contracts within our local area and look forward to continuing our successful working relationship with Irvine Bay Regeneration Company. These contracts help us to maintain our locally based workforce together with our existing apprenticeship scheme in addition to improving the local environment for the benefit of all.”

Irvine Bay chief executive Patrick Wiggins added: “We are delighted to be able to move ahead with these projects so quickly. We will continue to press ahead with other developments in the town centres which will help to attract and grow business activity in the area. There is currently a shortage of good quality office accommodation around Irvine Bay and we are actively seeking to deal with that issue.”

Irvine Bay Regeneration Company

Irvine Bay Regeneration Company seeks to develop and revitalise the five towns of Ardrossan, Saltcoats, Stevenston, Kilwinning and Irvine in North Ayrshire through a £100 million, ten year programme to boost the local economy and make the area an attractive and prosperous place to live, work and to visit. Partners are North Ayrshire Council, Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Government.

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Friday, 23 October 2009

THE new Prestwick Academy building was officially opened on Thursday 22 October 2009 by the Rt Hon Lord Ian Lang of Monkton (pictured below).

An important part of South Ayrshire Council’s £76 million investment programme in schools, the new Prestwick Academy, which cost approximately £26 million, was designed and built as an exciting and inspiring learning environment. It provides indoor and outdoor facilities that will serve the people of Prestwick and surrounding areas for many years to come.

[Lord and Lady Lang are pictured with the plaque that Lord Lang unveiled to mark the official opening of the new Prestwick Academy building.]

After officially opening the new school building Lord Lang said: “This is a top quality building, and I warmly congratulate the South Ayrshire Council and all those involved in its planning, design and construction. It takes its place within an impressive Council programme of school modernisation throughout the area.

“Quality begets quality. I hope that the new Prestwick Academy will inspire teachers and pupils alike for many years to come, to deliver and to benefit from a top quality education. I consider it a great privilege to be asked to participate in the official opening ceremony.”

The guests at the official opening ceremony enjoyed a full programme of entertainment provided by talented pupils that included a string orchestra, Scottish Highland Dancers, folk groups, fiddle orchestra, the school choir, Les Miserables Medley by the school show June 2010 cast.

Since 2008 schools have also been completed at Monkton, Alloway, Barassie and Belmont, with a new annexe completed at Kyle Academy.

Councillor Hywel Davies, the Council’s Lifelong Learning Portfolio Holder said: “The new school building is a fitting place for young people to learn, prosper and grow into active citizens. Our young people deserve the best possible schools that we can provide, and Prestwick Academy is certainly a place that pupils, staff and the communities it serves can be proud of.

“Schools are about more than buildings, the entertainment provided by the pupils at the opening ceremony clearly demonstrated the wide range of talents the pupils have. Pupils are the heart of any school, however, a modern learning environment provides them with a place to learn new skills, build on their existing knowledge and gain valuable life experience.”

Head teacher Gordon Bone said: “The new Prestwick Academy building is allowing us to develop further our approaches to learning and teaching. It provides us with a modern learning centre designed to equip our young people with the necessary skills, knowledge and positive attitudes to achieve their full potential and enable them to lead healthy, productive lives.

“By instilling adaptability, independence and a strong sense of positive values we will assist our young people to realise their ambitions and build a better future for all.”

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THE EDITORThe Editor of Ayrshire Scotland Business News is Murdoch MacDonald, a graduate of Magdalene College, Cambridge University, where his journalistic contemporaries included John Simpson, now World Affairs Editor with the BBC, and Alan Rusbridger, Editor of the Guardian. Murdoch MacDonald has been in the public relations industry and a freelance journalist and broadcaster for more than 35 years.He has handled the PR accounts of many top Scottish companies, including Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Life, John Menzies, Kwik-Fit and Barratt Homes.

He has hosted his own family finance programmes - "£s, Pence and Sense" on Radio Forth and "Moneywise" on Scottish Television.He now runs Ayrshire’s top PR consultancy Fame Publicity Services.

Wherever you are in the world, no other public relations consultancy, PR firm or publicity company can offer you a better or more cost-effective worldwide news distribution service, combined with search engine optimisation techniques that will drive customers and qualified sales leads to your company's website.

Murdoch MacDonald is also managing director of the Elite Ayrshire Business Circle, an association of some of the top companies in Ayrshire.Telephone: 01292 281498E-mail: Murdoch@eliteayrshire.com

Murdoch and his wife Lilian (pictured above) have written a book called "Phoenix in a Bottle", describing how they overcame alcoholism and are now, contrary to conventional wisdom, able to drink alcohol responsibly again. "Phoenix in a Bottle" is published by Melrose Books price £16.99 and is now available worldwide.Reviewing the book, eminent American addiction expert Dr Stanton Peele PhD commented:

“Phoenix in a Bottle is a modern version of The Days of Wine and Roses, and tells the true story of how two people who entered a period of desperate drinking stayed with one another in a close loving relationship, and emerged from their alcoholism able to drink responsibly again.

“Both a wonderful love story and a challenge to conventional wisdom about how people can recover from drinking problems, Phoenix in a Bottle gives people hope, and helps them to confront their own demons - alcohol or otherwise.”

And now "Phoenix in a Bottle" has been selected as a set text by a top American university.

“Phoenix in a Bottle” by Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald will now be required reading for all doctoral students in a psychology programme at Alliant International University in San Diego, California.

Alliant International University, headquartered in San Diego and San Francisco, California, was formed in 2001 by the merger of the California School of Professional Psychology (CSPP) and the United States International University. Alliant has 6 campuses throughout California and also runs programmes in Mexico City, Hong Kong and Tokyo. The California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant is one of the premier psychology schools in the US, and it counts roughly half the licensed clinical psychologists in California as its alumni.

Dr. Gary W. Lawson is Professor of Psychology at CSPP. He says: “I adopted Phoenix in a Bottle because the dilemma this couple struggled with and the questions they ask themselves are like so many others I have encountered in 35 years of clinical experience treating addictions.“However, nowhere in addiction literature have I seen these issues examined and explained as well as Lilian and Murdoch do in Phoenix in a Bottle.“I also recommend Phoenix in a Bottle to many of my patients as well.”

You can buy "Phoenix in a Bottle" by Lilian and Murdoch MacDonald online now direct from Amazon UK (click on book cover image below).